Pet Store Atrocity

[Sunset]

Does your store have rooms in the back for animals that come in sick? I know in our pet store we had racks in the back. Animals did come in sick or were stressed from being shipped in but we would isolate them in the back to make sure to provide individual care to the animal. If the big stores do not have them then the employees have no choice but to leave the ones that come in unhealthy out for everyone to see.

Yeah, we have a room called the "quiet room". Its in the back of the store, controlled temp of 74 degrees, and has thick doors so theirs no noise that comes through. All petsmart/petco's have them, not sure about smaller stores of course, .

 

[Dog Shrink]

i know! i have trouble not saying anything when i see reptiles being kept on sand in the store in dirty enclosures but you can't do anything until it is regulated properly by some form of authority, but until then we can only bite our tongues and deal with it

It IS regulated by places like the USDA, who issues licenses for breeders (dog breeders for sure i know get their kennel licensing thru the usda), the local humane societies/animal enforcement agencies that enforce local anti-cruelty code and the like. It is up to the consumer to report these things when we see them. If reporting on a local level to he proper people doesn't get results then send a short video or some pix to PETA. They may be crazy activists on some levels but they get this stuff exposed and dealt with. These places have to have permits, insurance and licenses to sell these animals, they have to be displayed pubically (which if they aren't is also a violation of the law), you can see the license and who issued it as well as their insurer then contact those people and report it or contact the corporate office tsince these are franchise businesses. Make sure you take pix or short videos on your cells as documented proof of the bad conditions these animals are in. There is always a way to get justice for these animals (or to attempt to anyway) and going against a big place like these huge franchise outlets is something that has been well documented by places like PETA HSUS and ASPCA for their cruel ways in the past. The biggest problem isn't lack of places to act upon the cruelty but lack of people willing to report what they see beyond the store level. Contact corporate, see what their policy is about treatement and care of animals they sell, then go from there. Hound them, don't stop until it changes.

 

[fl_orchidslave]

hsus and peta are the organizations lobbying to take our reptiles away, not actually helping animals. Those organizations funnel money directly to Washington DC and into their own pockets under the guise of pathetic animals they are allegedly helping.

 

[Dog Shrink]

I do agree to a point that what most of what PETA and HSUS are doing on the national level is bullcrap but I have had the pleasure of working with our local PETA reps on several different occasions on some of the puppy mill busts Ive been on and they aern't the fanatics you see on the national level. On the local level the smaller extended groups can really do a lot of good. They know the animal cruelty laws, they know how to expose these places, and yes even tho they are trying to end a lot of our rights to have these animals in this situation using them for a change insted of the other way around can be a productive vehicle to resolve some of these problems.

 

[M_surinamensis]

I had picked some individual quotes out of the last few posts and written brief point by point replies, but I think a more generalized statement will better communicate what I have to say.

PeTA and the HSUS are not animal welfare organizations. They are animal rights organizations, a distinction that is of tremendous importance.

Lots of people think they are all about animal welfare, it's a PR campaign both of them have run for years that obscures some portion of their true purpose. You may meet people who have all the good intentions in the world that claim they are a member, because they sent in their fifty dollars and got their information packet and secret decoder ring, but most of them are not. Not really.

The sole reason that either of those organizations would seem willing to help you as you tackle an animal welfare issue is because they can use it as precedent for their legislative agendas. Agendas which are not pro-animal welfare by any stretch. They may initially seem to be an assistance, wandering in with legal threats and hollering at the corporation, they will take those photos and those statements and twist them, misrepresent them and use it to push for making pet ownership illegal. Across the boards, 100%, totally illegal. Reptiles are an especially easy place for them to gain such leverage, too many legislators don't really know much about them and too large a segment of the general voting population doesn't care or buys into some sensationalism.

A sick leopard gecko can be dealt with in many ways. Communication with the store employees and management in a reasonable and considered manner, follow through with the district management and corporate channels. The big chain stores will talk to you and work with you to fix a situation if you remain reasonable and a little patient as your issue works through their system. They do not want to have a poor public image or lose a potential customer and they will go quite a long way to make things right once someone with sufficient clout to fix a scenario is made aware of it.

Involving animal rights activists is like using a hand grenade to kill a mosquito that is resting on your arm. It will ultimately cause a lot more damage than it solves- even if it clears up that mosquito problem.

I could... and have... gone into it a lot more in other places. I can do it again here if it seems like something worth discussing but first I'd like to toss up a couple links.

Clay Davenport wrote some information down about the organizations, who and what they really are. http://www.arbreptiles.com/extremists.shtml

Here's a long thread over on Fauna where I behave like a bit of an ass towards Marcia McGuinness, but a full read of it will give someone a pretty good picture about how these AR groups can twist a situation to make it fit their own agenda. It's some of the background of the PetNo campaign and the resulting legislation that made it more difficult to own and sell a reptile in California. A word of caution to anyone who may be used to these forums, Fauna at the time was a very different place, things over there could get a lot rougher between members than is acceptable here. It's probably safe for work, but it's not exactly cuddly. http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16427

I'd also suggest some web searches for terms like:

"PETA Hoax" which will turn up multiple articles and instances where the organization was staging acts of animal abuse, abusing animals themselves in order to film it and put the blame on someone they intended to target.

"PETA kills" which will turn up the court case for their illegal mass killing of shelter animals in North Carolina. A few other places too, but North Carolina is the one that really made the news.

"PETA money" which will bring up web pages that show direct evidence of where the donations people give the group actually go; from Newkirk's "salary" to new billboards, to the legal defense of domestic terrorists. Strangely, almost none of it goes to actually helping animals.

The bottom line is that they are not good people, they are not out to help reptiles (or any other animals) and that their involvement is beyond counterproductive. They are an enemy of the pet owner, the enemy of the biologist, the enemy of medical research, the enemy of the meat eater... they are rabidly anti-human and they go to extreme lengths to push their insidious agenda.

 

[BrilliantEraser]

I just remember the animal rights groups recommending the euthanasia of all Michael Vick's fighting dogs. But rather than make this point known, they raised money to supposedly "help" the dogs seized in that case. As far as I know, not one red cent made its way over to the people actually rehabilitating and rehoming the animals (not a single one of which was euthanized due to aggressive tendencies). I also remember hearing (hopefully someone can back me up on this) that only a very small portion of the money raised by either organization actually goes to local humane societies.

Sorry, but PeTA and HSUS reaaaaaaaally irk me.

 

[Dog Shrink]

Lets not turn this into another PETA bashing anti HUSH conversation. I know what they do, I know what they're capable of doing, and are trying to do. I read all the reports and follow the money too. This is all why I said as a last chance opportunity if NO one else would help that they could try them.

 

[clemsonguy1125]

This article is one of the biggest things I have issues with from PETA. They are trying to stop the exotic pet trade because select few importers misstreat there animals. They never mention anything about captive breeding in the article. Yes, they have done some un-ethical things, but in general they have helped animals. And maybe split this thread or something.
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-in-entertainment/exotic-animals-pets.aspx

 

[Metal_Gecko]

I think I'll try back tomorrow to see if they took him to a vet at least...

-Wes

 

[Dog Shrink]

I'd honestly report it to corporate or it'll never get dealt with honestly. They NEED to know what goes on at their stores, THEN if nothing is done you have a case for neglect.

 

[Metal_Gecko]

Well I went back to check....
Nobody, "knew what I was talking about."

-Wes

 

[Dog Shrink]

Yeah of course they don't. Was the leo still there? Time to call corporate...